Hut site, Ballynahowna, Co. Sligo
Co. Sligo |
Settlement Sites
Inside a cashel in Ballynahowna, County Sligo, a tiny rectangular structure sits quietly against the inner edge of a stone enclosure.
It measures roughly 2.3 metres north to south and 2.2 metres east to west, which is barely large enough to lie down in, and its defining wall stands no higher than 35 centimetres at its tallest point. That a structure so slight and so small has survived at all is what makes it worth pausing over.
The hut sits within a cashel, an early medieval stone-walled enclosure of the kind commonly associated with farmsteads or ecclesiastical settlements in early Christian Ireland. This particular example places the hut in the north-west quadrant, positioned close to the enclosing bank, which suggests it may have been deliberately tucked against the shelter of the outer wall. The entrance gap, 0.6 metres wide, is centred on the north wall, an unusual orientation given that north-facing openings offer the least protection from weather. Whether that reflects practical necessity, the layout of the broader cashel, or some other consideration is not clear from what survives. The walls themselves, around 0.9 metres thick relative to the modest interior, are built in the low bank style typical of ancillary structures within cashels, where subsidiary buildings for storage, shelter, or craft work were often clustered near the enclosing wall.